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Malawi: Our Impact

As a leader in Malawi’s health care sector since 2003, with a strong staff of Malawi managerial and clinical professionals, MSH has worked closely with the Malawi's Ministry of Health (MOH) to scale up and improve health care service delivery at all levels, while strengthening critical management gaps in Malawi’s health care system.

In Malawi where a district hospital can be many miles from a village, rural communities and health centers are playing a vital role in preventing the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in the country. Working with Malawi CAP’s National Tuberculosis Programme, MSH and the Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TB) are training community volunteers and strengthening health centers to improve the TB case detection rate and support HIV and TB diagnosis and treatment services.

In 2006, the Malawi Ministry of Health chose the artemisinin-based combination therapy artemether-lumefantrine as the first-line drug for treating uncomplicated malaria. However, when Malawi officially launched the policy nationwide, one of the greatest challenges was a lack of capacity among health workers and pharmacy personnel to manage the new treatment.

Twenty MSH experts on tuberculosis (TB) from 15 countries showcased the latest global experience and methodologies at the 40th Union Conference on Lung Health, held December 3-7 2009, in Cancun, Mexico.

On October 1, 2009, USAID officially handed over the keys to the newly refurbished and upgraded Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Lilongwe, Malawi, to the Ministry of Health in a ceremony attended by representatives from USAID, the Government of Malawi, MSH, the Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TB CAP), and other collaborating partners. With the improvements, the CRL is now the first Biosafety Level 3 laboratory based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in Malawi and one of the few laboratories of this level in southern Africa. According to USAID Charge d&rsquo

MSH: What is your role at MSH? I am the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Technical Advisor placed at the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Malawi.MSH: What is the situation in Malawi with respect to the AIDS epidemic? What are Malawi’s greatest challenges in tackling HIV & AIDS? Malawi is experiencing a severe epidemic. Since 1985, when the first AIDS case was diagnosed, HIV prevalence has increased significantly in the 15–49 age group. It rose to 16.2 percent in 1999, before coming down and stabilizing at around 12 percent in 2005.

As we approach World Population Day—which was first observed 22 years ago, on July 11, 1988—many women in the poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, still lack access to modern family planning (FP). As a result, these women suffer high maternal mortality, and their infants die at disproportionately high rates. MSH and its partners are leading a response by developing integrated, community-based FP/HIV services in these countries and repositioning FP as a core activity on the global health agenda.

It has been over six decades since tuberculosis (TB) was deemed a treatable and curable disease. Yet it still remains one of the leading causes of death across the world, killing more than 1.5 million people per year. Despite myths about its danger, misinformation about its breadth, and ignorance about its true burden on the world’s population, TB remains one of the deadliest epidemics in the world. From low detection rates to drug-resistant strains to the continued threat of co-infection with HIV, we need to recognize just how important this fight is.

At the opening of the new Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre in Ntcheu, Malawi, the country's Minister of Health took the opportunity to encourage Malawians to participate in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic."Why should we be afraid to come to this beautiful centre to check our sero status? HIV/AIDS is not a sin. It is a health problem," said Dr.

USAID and UNICEF select MSH to lead four new major public health projects in MalawiCAMBRIDGE, MA — Management Sciences for Health (MSH) has been selected by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) to help develop sustainable programs that support HIV & AIDS services and treatment, community-based family planning, and child health care in the southeastern African nation of Malawi.Malawi Secretary of Health Chris Kangombe expressed his appreciation for MSH’s contribution to the nation’s health sector, saying h